PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – The College of Agriculture and Human Sciences is well on its way to building strong international relationships with partners across the globe and our latest collaborators hail from Bogor, Indonesia. Professors, department heads, and the president of Institut Pertanian Bogor University (Bogor Agricultural University in English) visited the Cooperative Agricultural Research Center on Thursday, February 24, to offer a presentation on their renowned institution and discuss future collaborations between the two universities.

IPB University President Arif Satria, and the head of the University’s School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Prof. Bambang Purwantara, gave a brief overview of their program, and expressed enthusiasm for our shared interests and the similar work done between PVAMU and IPB. The visit was orchestrated by Purwantara and CARC Executive Associate Director Erdogan Memili, Ph.D., who also noticed the similarities in the two universities and sought to create strong research-based bonds between our scientists.

“My goal is to functionally link us with other prominent universities and institutions across the globe,” Memili said. “I encourage our researchers to find their counterparts at other universities that are relevant to their work, that they may collaborate with. I saw what IPB offers complements what we have here with our five research systems.”

The Indonesian university is home to over 29,000 students, with areas of study including agriculture, veterinary medicine & biomedical sciences, fisheries & marine sciences, agricultural technology, animal science, forestry & management, and more. One of their main priorities is nurturing partnerships between other universities to strengthen international collaboration that will impact global agricultural production.

“The idea behind the visit was to expose our researchers to each other’s and see what we come up with,” Memili said. “Immediately sparks flew between our scientists and theirs. So, the deal is to explore win-win opportunities in the land grant mission, i.e., in research, teaching, and extension.”

IPB University’s tentative plans with PVAMU include starting their own goat research center like ours to further research goat health and production with our experts. They will bring their researchers to Prairie View to study, and in return, our professors and researchers can train in Bogor in their facility. IPB has already begun communicating with the Meat Science Center for future projects and plans to create a study abroad program for students at both institutions as a priority. Indonesia has one of the largest groups of diverse plants in the world, including medicinal plants. The professors are currently working with CAHS Professor Aruna Weerasooriya, Ph.D., – who also has ties to IPB – to start new programs focused on medicinal plants available in Indonesia.

“IPB University is one of the best agricultural universities in the world, and I am looking forward to the collaborations because we have amazing researchers and resources here at PV and our college deserves to work with other wonderful schools,” Memili said.

Outreach and community extension are not as common in Indonesia as it is here in the United States, according to Memili, so the university also aims to create an extension pipeline between the two countries, geared towards aiding Indonesian farmers to enhance their production and offer nutritional resources for community members. All these plans, of course, require funding, and Memili says researchers from CAHS and IPB will co-author grants to receive international and federal funding and put these plans into motion to facilitate a stronger and international footprint.

“The world is more globally connected than ever before, it is a global village,” Memili said. “For our country to be at the forefront of science and technology, global relations are especially important for us. Once we secure that connection, we can broaden the horizon of our college in all areas and improve from there.”

Thank you to Satria, Purwantara, Dr. M Agil of the School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Titik Nurhayati, head of the Health Center, and their guests for visiting our campus and committing to working alongside our college to maintain a lasting, positive impact in agriculture.

Pascale Mondesir
Communication Specialist II
pamondesir@pvamu.edu